A Global Survey of Mental Health Treatment Experiences Among Food Allergy Patients and Caregivers

Linda Jones Herbert; Rebecca C Knibb; Jennifer L P Protudjer; Christina J Jones; Mary Jane Marchisotto; Helen A Brough; Christopher Warren; Cassandra Screti; Melissa L Engel; Sean Park; Alexandra F Santos; Ruchi Gupta; Brian P Vickery

doi:10.1016/j.jaip.2025.05.015

A Global Survey of Mental Health Treatment Experiences Among Food Allergy Patients and Caregivers

J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2025 May 14:S2213-2198(25)00476-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2025.05.015. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Psychology and Behavioral Health, Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC; Department of Pediatrics, George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC. Electronic address: lherbert@childrensnational.org.
² Aston Institute for Health and Neurodevelopment, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
³ Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁴ School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Surrey, United Kingdom.
⁵ MJM Advisory, New York, NY; EAACI Patients Organisation Committee, Zurich, Switzerland.
⁶ Children's Allergy Service, Evelina Children's Hospital, Guy's and St. Thomas's NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom; Department Women and Children's Health (Pediatric Allergy), School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; Peter Gorer Department of Immunobiology, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
⁷ Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Ill.
⁸ Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Ill; Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
⁹ Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Ill; Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, Ill; Division of Advanced General Pediatrics and Primary Care, Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Ill.
¹⁰ Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga; Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Ga.

PMID: 40379241
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaip.2025.05.015

Abstract

Background: Barriers to mental health treatment have been identified among individuals managing food allergy (FA), yet little is known about their experiences accessing this care.

Objective: We assessed the mental health treatment experiences of caregivers and adults with FA within the Global Access to Psychological Services for FA Study.

Methods: Caregivers of children with FA and adults with FA from >20 countries completed online surveys about experiences with FA-related mental health treatment.

Results: Overall, 21.6% (411 of 1907) of caregivers and 22.8% (304 of 1329) of adults reported receiving FA-related mental health treatment. Most of those participants (96.2%) lived in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, or the United States. Cognitive behavioral therapy was the most common treatment reported by caregivers (30.1%) and adults (33.2%). Most caregivers and adults were at least somewhat satisfied with their experience (75.9% and 72.4%, respectively) and perceived that mental health providers were at least somewhat FA knowledgeable (62.5% and 60.06%, respectively), although caregiver and adult perceptions of knowledge significantly varied by country with lowest percentages in Australia (31.8% and 33.4%, respectively) and highest in Portugal (96.0% and 90.9%, respectively), P < .01. Most caregivers (72.1%) and adults (75.0%) reported that mental health providers were at least somewhat helpful at addressing FA concerns, albeit again with significant international differences, P < .01.

Conclusions: Most caregivers and adults reported satisfaction with FA-related mental health treatment and believed that providers were somewhat FA knowledgeable. However, intercountry attitudes about FA-related mental health treatment experiences were noted.

Keywords: Adult; Caregiver; Children; Food allergy; Health care access; Mental health.